Two Kinds of People to Market To

By Debbie Mayo-Smith

You have two kinds of people to market too:

Those who know you and

Those who never heard of you.

As you know, marketing to those that have never heard of you can encompass activities such as advertising traditionally and on the Internet; having a website that is found in searches; networking; joining associations; sending out direct mail. And of course a combination of above.

But please don’t neglect or think that many of the methods mentioned substitute for keeping in touch with the people who know you. These are people who have made an inquired; individuals whom you’ve met at a networking meeting or on an airplane. Clients who have done business with you in the past.

Keep in touch with these valuable resources, be they clients or prospects. Do you have a client newsletter? If not, how do you regularly stay in touch for repeat business; up selling and referrals? I can hear you thinking – “yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that Debbie”. But – how wide is the gulf between what you know you should do and what you actually are doing?

Let me tell you a tiny story. Two weeks ago I got a phone call on Friday afternoon at 5:15. It was Robert, the Managing Director. He said “Debbie, I just read your latest newsletter. We’ve got to talk. When can you come in?

Now I haven’t spoken to Robert in well over two years – in person or on the phone that is. But I have been personally “talking” to him via email at least once a month since the last time we met. He wasn’t ready for our services then, and it has taken 20 months. But how easy was it to stay in contact with him? With personalisation software, a newsletter that keeps readers interested and thus subscribed, you can be as personal as your database information enables you to be. No matter how large your mailing list is. You can turn the people that know you into prospects and then to clients. You’ll move existing clients well up that loyalty ladder.